31 October 2012

Žrnovo is small place on Korcula island. There is an 'agrotouristic' restaurant called 'Gera'. They offer only vegetables that they grow in their garden and fish that they catch that day. We had 'kerna' fish (caught that day by diving) with potatoes and 'zeje' - never tasted something fresher; we had to wait for the owner to 'harvest' our dinner from their garden! They also offer local hand made macaroni that are only made in that small village. They're called 'Žrnovski Makaruni'.

Method:
Macaroni-
Mix all ingredients and make a stiff dough. Let it rest 15-20 minutes, then cut small pieces. Wrap each piece of dough around a skewer and rub between your palms to form macaroni. Take off and place onto a clean cloth; repeat with remaining dough. When everything used, cook macaroni in salted water in 3-4 batches (they will come to the surface; boil for a couple of minutes more). Take them out and place onto oiled serving plate.
Meat sauce-
Heat oil, saute onion, then add other vegetables. Mix well and add meat and spices. Cook until meat looses its pink colour. Add broth and canned tomato paste, season to taste. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
Spoon meat sauce over the macaroni; sprinkle with shaved Parmesan cheese (optional).

30 October 2012

Remember story about F. and N., both from Korcula, but apart for many years...him in Australia, her in Holand? Well, F. has returned to this beautiful island for good, and we (my family and me) went to visit her. She was kind to offer her beautiful home for us to stay as long as we wanted, she took us all over the Island and she is responsible for all these awesome photos that I took.
By the way, N. (her darling), sold his house, packed his belongings and is on his way to Korcula, literally as I'm writing!
Good luck to both of them - I couldn't ask for better friends!

I couldn't decide what I liked more - all charming little cities on edges of island, or inside the island and it's olive and fig trees, stone protected land parcels and vineyards.
The island was inhabited since pre-historic times and went through Greek, Roman, Venetian, English, Slavic and Austro-Hungarian empires. I would say, Romans left cultural and culinary impact more than others, so we enjoyed pasta, pizza and seafood prepared in Italian way mostly.
Next post - recipe from Žrnovo, Handmade Macarons (Zrnovski Makaruni)

28 October 2012

It took us 9 hours of driving for around 500 km (Brcko - Korcula)! The roads were bad and slow...but, we didn't mind - the scenery was so beautiful. It was end of September and weather was perfect. What I really liked is not-so-many tourists on road . We stopped in one place (Jablanicko Jezero) for lunch; had trout (what else) and arrived in the evening in Orebic, where we're supposed to catch a ferry to Korcula . The sunset was awesome!

Trout with Potatoes and Leafy Greens

Ingredients:
Main-
4 trouts (250-300 g each), cleaned
corn flour for dusting
salt and pepper
oil for frying (or baking)
Dressing-
1/2 cup olive oil
parsley (small bunch), chopped
garlic (2-4 cloves), crushed
For 'salad'-
Potatoes (1-2 for each person), peeled and cut into quarters
1 bunch spinach, kale or similar (I used Nettle leaves), washed
olive oil (1/3 - 1/2 cup)
salt and pepperMethod:
Salad-
Put potatoes into a pan cover with water and bring to boil. Cook for 25-30 minutes, then add leafy greens and cook for another 5 minutes. Drain water; season with salt and pepper, pour oil and mix well. Some of potatoes should go mushy and some should stay in pieces. Keep warm.
Dressing-
Mix oil with chopped parsley and garlic. Place into a small serving bowl.
Fish-
Heat oil in a pan (or switch oven to 220*C).
Season fish and dust with corn flour. Fry each side 5-7 minutes (or bake for 20 minutes in oven).
Spoon some dressing over fish, serve with warm potato salad.
Goes well with white wine (Riesling) mixed with sparkling water (3:1)

19 October 2012

End of September and beginning of October is busy time in Bosnia. All the fruit and vegetables have to be picked and stored for winter. My birth town (and surrounding aerie) is famous for growing prunes. They're mostly used for making jams, rakia (sljivovica) and desserts.This is one of my favourite prune / plum desserts. Quick and easy!
Ingredients:Prunes (or plums)FlourOil, neutral tastingSugar (if plums not very ripe)Method:Preheat oven to 180*C. Grease baking dish(es) and dust with flour.Open each plum and destone it. Shake plums with some flour (in a bag or bowl). Place a layer of plums onto dishes (if plums not very ripe sprinkle with some sugar), drizzle with oil and repeat with another layer and drizzle of oil. Bake for 20 minutes, or until plums release juice and become golden on top. Let it cool and serve with cream / custard / ice cream.

16 October 2012

Autumn already started showing it's beautiful colours, although the weather was still warm. My parents' garden was full of organic home grown vegetables. Gosh, how good they tasted!

Nothing of this goodness must not be wasted and preparing for winter has already started. One of my favourite preserves for winter is Ajvar (pronounced [ǎj.ʋaːr]), vegetablerelish that can be consumed as spread, side dish or salad. It originates in Serbia, and became very popular through Balkan.

My mum makes best-one!

Ingredients:
5 kg red capsicums (sweet chilli or bullhorn)
1 kg eggplant
300 ml oil
3 small heads of garlic, crushed / finally diced
1 tbs salt
1oo ml alcoholic vinegar
2 tbs sugarMethod:
Grill capsicums and eggplant over wood / charcoal heated plate (it gives distinctive flavour), or bake it in hot oven until skin on capsicums starts to blacken and blister. Place them in a plastic bag and let it cool.
When cool enough for handling, peel the skin from capsicums, get rid of seeds and take off blackened pieces from eggplants. Put everything trough a mincer.
Heat oil in a large pan, place minced vegetable, garlic and all other ingredients. Cook and stir for 1-2 hours, or until you get wanted consistency. Spoon hot ajvar into clean jars and seal tightly with lids. Let it cool completely, then store in a final, cool place. Lasts for 6+ months.